Unravel- Miraculous Ladybug AU
by keelafairie
Summary: Marinette grew up hiding, not daring to make herself known to the world; never stopping anywhere on the way back to her parents' café after school, never growing too close to any "normal" people, and never showing her true self without a mask.Which was pretty hard, considering she'd fallen for Adrien, the son of a wealthy CCG investigator.
1. 1-Marinette

Hey guys!

If you're familiar with me I'd bet you're thinking "Really Kiki? _ANOTHER_ story?"

Well, the answer is yes. I am making another fanfiction.

A small warning — I've never written a fanfiction about Miraculous Ladybug or Tokyo Ghoul before, so I'm really sorry if they're OOC or I get a few things wrong, please bare with me.

Also, I'm really sorry if the chapter seems a bit rushed, I really had no idea how to start this, and don't really have a clear idea on how this story is going to play out.

* * *

 **M** arinette woke with a start, her alarm blaring only to be silenced by her outstretched hand. She yawned, stretching as Tikki — her adoptive sister — came in through the trap door.

"Marinette! You're gonna be late!"

That one phrase erased every ounce of tiredness from within her, and she panicked, racing to get dressed and collect all of her school supplies.

"I'll be down in a minute Tikki, thanks!"

She quickly ran a brush through her dark hair before pulling it into a pair of pigtails, rushing to her door and only hesitating to admire her wall of Adrien Agreste photos.

She quickly made her way downstairs and into her parents' café, a small safe haven for both ghouls and people... of course, the people never knew that both the owners and the few workers were ghouls. That was the way it had to be kept.

Before the 15-year-old could make her way out the door her mother grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Have a nice day at school, Marinette," she said, smiling at her daughter and slipping a freshly made coffee into her hand, before lowering her voice as her expression turned from joyous to concerned, "And, please, be careful?"

Marinette returned the smile that her mother had given her, her bluebell eyes shining brightly, "Don't worry, Mama, I'll be fine."

She then commenced to kiss her mom's cheek before waving to Tikki and her dad — who were working at the counter — and heading out the door.

She ran down the street, not stopping until she was bursting into her classroom right as the final warning bell rang.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she sat down by Alya, setting her bag and coffee down on the desk.

"Looks like you got here just in time," Alya laughed at her exhausted friend.

"Thank god, I can live another day!" Marinette joked, and the two girls giggled as the teacher entered the classroom.

The lesson passed slowly, Marinette taking notes and every now and then glancing at the handsome boy in front of her.

Eventually it was time for lunch, a point in the day that Marinette both looked forward to, and heavily feared.

On the bright side, she got to socialize with her friend Alya; on the downside, she had to _eat_.

Walking out of the classroom with Alya, they made their way to a bench, sitting down as Marinette pulled out a sketch book and Alya pulled out her lunch.

"Forget your lunch _again_ , Marinette?" Alya teased, laughing at the sheepish grin that formed on Marinette's face.

"Well, I was running late this morning, and I'm not really hungry at the moment anyway-"

Alya cut her friend off by holding out half of a small sandwich, "You need to eat, girl! That's the third time you've forgotten your lunch this week, I can't have my best friend dying of starvation before weekend finally arrives."

She sighed, silently accepting the fact that there was no way she was going to win this battle. Marinette took the sandwich, forcing down the bile that rose in her throat at the thought of _eating_ it. Sure, she was a bit hungry, it had been a few weeks since she'd actually eaten, and she and Tikki were set to go get food that weekend, just not _this_ food.

She forced the sandwich into her mouth, ignoring the ill flavor that erupted, and pretended to chew as she swallowed the small piece whole, tasting as little of it as humanly possible.

A fake smile spread across her face, "Thank you, Alya," she lied, as her friend bit into her own sandwich and pulled out her phone as Marinette ignored the ache forming in her stomach and began to sketch a design for a dress.

"Mari, you have to see this!" Alya suddenly said, pulling Marinette from her small trance by shoving a phone in her face.

On the screen was a new article, the title reading _Five Found Dead on the Streets of Paris After Late-Night Ghoul Attack_.

"That's the sixth time this month in that neighborhood, I'm surprised that people are still going out at night there!"

"Yeah, it's insane," Marinette replied with a small frown. This certain neighborhood wasn't that far from the Notre Dame, and even though ghoul attacks were common there, this was an insane amount for a single month.

"I'd bet it's another binge eater," Alya continued. She'd always been fascinated with the news on ghouls, and that'd made Marinette wary of being around her at first, though Alya's outgoing and supportive personality quickly brought down that invisible wall.

"What makes you say that?" Marinette asked, questioning her theory, but before the girl could reply another voice cut in.

"Wow, you were spot on once again, Alya!"

Marinette turned quickly, finding herself peering up at her one and only crush — Adrien.

"That's right, your dad's a CCG investigator, right Adrien?" Alya asked, flashing a small smirk towards Marinette as she blushed slightly over the fact that he was here, _speaking_ to them.

"Yeah, according to him that's what people are saying about the attacks."

"It's really terrifying, isn't it, Marinette?" Alya threw a sideways glance at her friend, having dragged her into the conversation.

"Y-yeah, 'tis ingfrighten! I mean... frightening it's! Or, um... it's frightening?" Marinette stuttered over her words, her stomach only becoming even more unsettled with the fresh embarrassment she'd just laid upon herself.

Despite the awkwardness, Adrien laughed, "Yeah, don't worry though, there's hardly any attacks happening anywhere near here, we should be perfectly safe as long as we stay away from those areas at night."

Adrien waved at the two of them as he turned away, heading towards his friend Nino, who was sitting on another bench a bit away from them.

Marinette dropped her head into her hands, letting out a muffled scream, "Did I really just do that?" she questioned, as Alya patted the back of her head.

"It's fine girl, he's not going to think you're some kind of monster just because you stuttered a bit, it happens to everyone!"

Marinette's gut seemed to twist, causing her to let out a pained groan, which would seem like a simple groan of frustration to anyone else, including Alya.

She stood, wrapping the remains of her sandwich in a napkin, "I'm going to the restroom for a bit, so I'll meet you back in class, okay?"

Alya nodded, "Right, I'll be out here if you need me."

Marinette quickly headed into the empty bathroom, going to the far stall and heaving into the toilet. Yes, she felt bad about throwing up the food Alya'd given her, but she couldn't risk hurting her health unless she wanted Tikki and her parents to lecture her.

She flushed the toilet, heading to a sink to rinse out her mouth, ridding it of the fowl taste.

Suddenly the warning bell rang, telling students to make their way back to class. Marinette gathered up her stuff, heading out the door towards her classroom.

The end of the day passed similar to the beginning, Marinette taking notes and doing her work as she should, before the bell finally rung to release students to the weekend.

"I'll text you later, Marinette!" Alya called, heading off towards her home as Marinette headed to the café.

"Yeah, see you on Monday!" was the ghoul's reply as she headed home.

The small growl that her stomach released made her heart sink. Tonight they had to leave the city, travelling to a few popular suicide spots that aren't widely known of.

And if they didn't find anyone, she'd have to kill someone.

* * *

So there's the first chapter! Thank you so much if you managed to read this far!

Please leave your thoughts in the comments! And tysm for reading!

Kiki?


	2. 2- Adrien

**[Present-day author: I forgot to add this into the first chapter, but I'm posting this all from my Wattpad, so once I finish uploading all current chapters here I'll probably post new ones there first. Also, Adrien is a smol bean that doesn't deserve the horrors of Tokyo Ghoul. Prepare to hate me.]**

* * *

 **T** here was no doubt about it.

The girl was watching them, watching _him_.

Adrien wasn't going to lie, she was pretty. But there was something... off... it was as if she was engulfed in an aura that screamed _DANGER, STAY AWAY_.

"Chill out, dude," Nino interrupted his uneasy thoughts, "You're a model, she probably just recognizes you from a magazine or something."

Adrien sighed, taking another sip of the coffee in front of him, sunlight streaming from the window where he sat at the Dupain-Cheng Café.

"It looks like Marinette's not working today," he noted. His classmate's parents owned the local café, and their home was right above it. It was unusual for Marinette to not be helping.

The strange girl took a shaky breath, standing and making her way to them timidly.

The boys watched the girl with curiosity. She brushed a small lock of brown hair behind her ear, before she then commenced to speak.

"It's Adrien, right? I'm Lila, a friend of Marinette's."

* * *

"So, Lila, you're interested in those old legends of the Miraculouses as well?"

"Yeah, I always thought it was amazing how the Miraculouses would work, with normal people being turned into beings with god-like power."

"It _is_ pretty amazing, isn't it."

The two of them sat facing each other, talking idly as they enjoyed the dinner in front of them on their " _date_ ". At least, he thought Lila was enjoying it, she'd only taken a few bites of her small sandwich.

"So, what was your favorite Miraculous from the legends?" she asked, leaning forward slightly and causing some hair to fall over her shoulder.

"I'd have to say the black cat, he was always so cool and epic with his powers, he was sort of my idol growing up."

Lila nodded, "I always enjoyed the stories with the fox Miraculous, the way she could always create such realistic illusions with her flute."

Adrien glanced back down to the barely touched food on Lila's plate, "Are you okay? You've hardly eaten anything-"

"Oh," Lila waved it off, "it's fine, I just recently started a very strict diet..." She stood, smoothing out her shirt, "Excuse me, I have to go to the restroom, I'll be back in a minute..."

Adrien nodded, surprised at her sudden need to leave the table.

 _She's really thin already, though..._ he thought, watching the brunette's back as she walked away.

Minutes later the waiter came by with his check, and Adrien saw that she'd ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, as well as a coffee, despite it getting late and her already having one at the café earlier.

Lila returned as Adrien set down the money to pay for the food, and the two of them made their way out of the restaurant.

"Thank you for tonight, I had a really nice time."

Adrien smiled, "Same here, it was nice being able to talk about old stories like the Miraculouses. Maybe I'll text you later? We could meet up again?"

Lila began returning the smile, before a small look of fear crossed her pretty face. "Actually do you know what time it is?" she asked worriedly.

Pulling out his phone, Adrien replied, "A little past nine, why do you ask?"

She looked down, twisting her fingers together and shuffling her feet nervously. "I-I actually live by the Notre Dame, and if you've been watching the news... if it wouldn't be much trouble..."

Adrien knew what she was talking about, even if she seemed too timid and scared to say it out loud. "You're worried about the ghouls, right?"

The question seemed like more of a statement than anything else, and his suspicion was only confirmed by the small nod of Lila's head.

"Don't worry, I'll text my dad to tell him I'm walking you home."

Adrien sent a text quickly, before they began heading to the subway entrance down the street.

The ride across the city was surprisingly quiet, and not many people were out. The metro car they sat in was empty, the two of them sitting across from each other. Adrien's eyes were glued to an add that warned people to be careful when walking around at night.

The strange unease of being alone with Lila seemed to creep back as they sat there in silence, it was the same feeling he'd had when he first saw her in the café, only this time they were alone.

He felt his phone buzz a few times, but ignored it. It was probably just his dad telling him to head home and be more responsible with his time, he still had to finish his essay for Chinese, and work on that new piano piece, he didn't have time to hang out with girls.

The metro slowed to a stops, and Lila stood, heading to the doors with Adrien following.

He could see the Notre Dame over the buildings, the lights reflecting off of the aged stone in a simple beauty.

"It's this way," Lila interrupted Adrien's thoughts by taking his hand, leading him further away from the main streets, where even now people were wandering around, doing late-night shopping and getting dinner with friends. "Here, I know a short cut," Lila explains, motioning down a dimly lit alley, going through two apartment buildings in what seemed to be a maze of back streets.

"But isn't this around where ghouls-"

"Don't worry," Lila cut in, "I have you, no ghouls would risk attacking two strong, independent individuals like ourselves."

Lila said it with such confidence, Adrien complied.

That was the decision that determined his fate.

They walked through the alleyways, the occasional light of a building flooding into the trash-filled streets.

Soon they made it to an area beside what seemed to be a construction site, that was when Lila stopped in her tracks.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you out for a while now," she said nonchalantly, "I-I really like you Adrien, I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Her words shocked him, what was she talking about? The pit of his stomach squirmed with the dread-filled feeling that'd been bugging him for the past half-hour or so.

Every single one of his instincts told him to run — this was where someone would die in every horror story, in every news article-

Lila turned, "It's a shame, I really did like you, _Adrikinz_."

Adrien didn't see her move, all at once his shoulder exploded in pain.

His worst fear had been confirmed.

Why hadn't he listened to his instincts, at least then he would be safe at home by now, not a care in the world as he worked on homework and texted Nino.

But _no_ , he just _had_ to go down the dark alley with a girl he barely knew.

He saw a flash of something red, and an immense pain erupted from his stomach area. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, traveling up from his throat and causing him to cough painfully.

He felt sick, and began shaking uncontrollably as one thought filled his head.

He was going to die.

 _He was going to die, he was going to die he was going todie he wasgoingtodiehewasgoingtodiehewasgoingtodie-_

The thought released inside his head endlessly inside is head until it was nothing back a jumble of thoughts.

He was brought back from his panicked state of mind by the insanity-filled laugh that belonged to Lila, "Human boys are so easy to fool," she giggled, her normally dark brown eyes now filled with black and red, and a cruel expression filled her once pretty face.

Now that he was up close he could see every small detail.

She threw Adrien back with what appeared to be a long, red tentacle that erupted from the base of her back, and Adrien hit the brick wall that bordered the construction sight with a sickening **_crack_** , he felt several of his ribs snapping at the impact, and he found he was unable to breath.

Dizziness overtook Adrien as he attempted to move, only to be met with a wave of nausea and pain, causing him to fall back to the ground and for black spots to cloud his vision.

"Aw, is he dead already?" he heard Lila ask, and one of the tentacles wrapped around him, pulling him from his crumpled position. "Such a shame, it's always much more fun to eat while they're still alive. I guess I'll have to be a bit gentler next time."

The iron grip around him loosened, and Adrien felt himself fall.

He heard footsteps approaching him, and as his vision began to clear slightly, he heard the click of metal.

"Now, which part of him should I eat first?"

Seconds later the world around him jerked, and he heard sirens in the distance.

The last thing he could see before blacking out was the silhouette of a girl with pigtails, and a strangely familiar voice calling out his name.

" _Adrien!_ "


	3. 3- Tragedy

Note to anyone reading this- don't follow someone you barely know into a dark alley. It never ends well.

*casually had no idea how to write the beginning of this chapter*

(Also, if there's any ridiculous spelling of a word or name or whatever, blame auto-correct, idk how to turn it off and it's driving me insane)

* * *

 **E** verything was dark.

Coldness engulfed Adrien, and he was vaguely aware of the frantic voices around him, something about an organ transplant, someone dying.

It occurred to him that _he_ was the one dying.

His consciousness never stayed for too long, but he was aware of a nagging sensation in his stomach whenever he drifted awake.

Hunger, hunger so painful that he wasn't even sure if it was even that.

His eyes drifted open for a period second, and it felt as if his left eye held a strange sort of power.

Adrien was just barely able to make out the hospital's ceiling before his mind was dragged into unconsciousness.

* * *

Adrien was recovering incredibly fast for someone with an organ transplant, and only a few days had passed before they finally allowed his dad in to see him.

The look in the man's eyes came close to concern about his son's safety, but Adrien was sure he'd just imagined it when the same man began scolding him a second later.

"You were out _how long_ past curfew? And you didn't even say anything! It's almost as if you've forgotten what's been happening around the Notre Dame, around _Paris_ at night!"

Adrien tuned most of the lecture out, nodding when needed and answering any simple questions thrown his way.

He wasn't concerned about any of that.

What he was concerned about was how, whenever he tried to eat, the food would taste old, rotten.

Yet he was hungry.

Adrien was released from the hospital a week later, when his father explained that he had to go on a business trip to Tokyo for a month, and needed Adrien's caretakers to adapt to taking care of Adrien as he recovered.

For most of the next day, he found himself sitting in his room, hunger gnawing at the edges of his stomach, and Adrien wondered how long it would take for someone to notice how he wasn't eating, how he ended up coughing and spitting up everything he tried to consume.

Fortunately Gorilla and Natalie were working in their offices, doing whatever work they were assigned by his dad.

He snuck downstairs that night, turning on the living room's TV as he grabbed the box of croissants that his father purchased for Adrien when he was released.

He still hadn't touched them.

Adrien sat down on the couch, flipping through the channels absentmindedly until the title of a news segment caught his eyes.

It was about ghouls.

"It's really quite unfortunate, see, ghouls can't consume human food, everything they eat tastes rotten to them, as if it's been spoiled and left to sit in the sun all day."

Adrien switched the channel again, only to land on another news segment about the CCG. An investigator was explaining how they fought the creatures.

"Normal knives and bullets can't harm them, it's as if they have an invisible shield that can only be breached by another ghoul's kagune-"

Adrien switched off the TV, looking down at the box of croissants in his lap.

Timidly, he reached down a hand and picked up the piece of food, what used to be one of his favorites, and bit into the flakey bread.

A single tear escaped his eyes as he stood up, making his way to the kitchen, a place he barely ever went.

He picked up one of the largest knifes he could find. Lifting up his shirt, his hands shaking as he gripped the knife. The circulation to his hands had been cut off, but he didn't notice. Before he could second-guess himself, he brought down the knife.

It shattered on impact.

Adrien sunk to his knees, unable so suppress the sobs that now raced through his body.

He was a _ghoul_ — a monster that survived off of human flesh.

Picking himself up from his knees, he gathered the knife's shards and tossed them into the trash.

He grabbed an old back hoodie from his room, one that he'd worn the total of one time for a photo shoot, and fled from the house.

It was night out, but that didn't bother him, it was the sound of people, the unbearable smell that drifted to his nose, causing his mind to twist with insanity.

That was when the scent caught up with him.

It was the smell of an old home-cooked meal, one that he hadn't had in well over a year — not since his mother was killed.

He found himself following the scent blindly, shoving past everyone until he found himself in a maze of alleyways.

When he saw what the scent was he nearly cried.

There was a man, maybe in his thirties, who was hunkered over the bloodied corpse that once belonged to someone, but was now too mangled and shredded to even resemble a person.

Adrien let out a strangled cry, sinking to his knees.

The ghoul turned quickly, relaxing slightly as he hooked on to Adrien's eye.

The boy's hand drifted up, slightly aware of the sensation of power swelling up there. He scanned the ground, his gaze hooking onto a small puddle of water forming by a drain.

His eye was filled with a mix of black and red.

"There isn't much left," the ghoul said, digging a hand into the corpse and pulling off what seemed to be the remains of a muscle. Adrien's stomach heaved at the gory sight, "you can have some if you want-"

The ghoul was cut off abruptly by a shadowed figure, "Really, how many times do I have to tell the leaches to stay off of my feeding grounds."

Adrien recognized the voice, though he didn't recognize from where. He was too worried about the severed head that now laid beside the ghoul's corpse, two bodies now in align.

"Adrien, huh? Who'd have thought that you were one too..."

"Juleka!"

He froze, that voice... it couldn't be...

A figure dropped in front of him, facing the girl who'd just murdered the ghoul who'd offered him human flesh.

"This is no one's hunting ground, how many times do we have to tell you?"

He'd recognize that voice anywhere, it belonged to the sweet, awkward girl who was in his class, the girl who always helped her parents at the café, she couldn't be...

"You peace-lovers at the café make me sick." Juleka, the girl who sat at the back of his class, spoke.

How many more things was he going to learn tonight? The only reasonable explanation was that this was a nightmare... just a nightmare he was unable to wake up from.

Marinette turned, freezing at the sight of the boy.

"A-Adrien, I-I-"

"Marinette?" he asked, hurt obvious in his tone, "How-"

Adrien didn't finish, he found that it was impossible to not pay attention to the fresh corpse, and that his stomach twisted in the pain that only had to be hunger.

Marinette overcame her shock quickly, crouching down by her crush. "I heard that you'd gotten an organ transplant, I never would've thought... they gave you Lila's organs, didn't they?"

Even now, even when Adrien was so close to loosing control and devouring each scrap of that body, Marinette was trying to help.

Juleka groaned, hopping up to a nearby building, "Help this lost cause if you want, his dad's a ghoul investigator, and I don't feel like dying tonight."

If his mind had been clear, and it was only a week or two ago, he'd be running, trying to get to the safety of his home so he could alert his father or call the CCG.

But now it was quite clear that wasn't an option.

"Adrien," Marinette said, her voice terrifyingly calm, "you need to eat, if you don't then you'll only end up hurting those around you."

Marinette wasn't stuttering, it was strange, this wasn't the quiet and awkward girl he knew, yet his mind subconsciously agreed with her. After all, whoever that person was, they were dead, and nothing was stopping him from-

No.

 _No._

He clutched his head, trying to suppress the unending pain.

He was human, _human_ , and he couldn't eat one of his own kind, he couldn't-

"Adrien, please, I don't want to have to force you, but you can't be around others when you're like this."

No. No no non _ononono_.

His hand began reaching out to the flesh that Marinette had taken from the body.

It was close to impossible to resist the hunger that clawed at him, and he attempted to drag his arm back down.

It was as if his mind and body were at war, it wasn't right, it was sickening to think of.

A gently hand caressed his cheek, "Adrien, please, don't make this harder for yourself."

They sat there for what seemed like days, Adrien constantly holding himself back from taking the flesh.

The flesh that Marinette held, the blood and gore didn't suit her pale skin, and the very thought of her being a ghoul seemed insane.

He heard the girl sigh, and her hand went down to his chin, he heard the faint echo of "I'm sorry." before the bloody chunk was forced into his mouth. He immediately resisted, trying to spit out the substance, but Marinette refused to let that happen.

His hunger overtook him.

Adrien gave in, letting it slide down his throat with a sickening **_gulp_**.

He wasn't human anymore.

He didn't deserve to ever be considered that.


	4. 4- Cry

**M** arinette felt like crying.

The one day she wasn't working, when she had to go search for poor souls that had ended their life just so she could satisfy her hunger for another month, the one day she wasn't there was when Lila decided to strike.

Whenever she expressed discomfort at the idea of serving her before, her parents just waved her off, saying that they knew why she was worried, but they couldn't simply tell the ghoul that she was banned from the shop. That option held far too many risks.

Now Marinette was in her bedroom, watching Adrien as he slept on the simple bed-like couch in the corner.

She was supposed to be doing homework, but the stress of what happened to Adrien kept her from functioning properly. Eventually she gave up on reading the next three chapters of _To Kill a Mockingbird_ , and resorted to just sitting at her desk, monitoring the sleeping boy and replying to any texts she'd get from Alya.

Marinette had made sure that her wall of Adrien photos had been taken down, replaced with clothing designs and designer magazine pages. He was on a few of them, but not too many to seem suspicious.

She let her head fall into her hands.

This was a mess.

What would she say when he woke up?

 _"Oh, hey Adrien! Yeah, I'm a ghoul, and now you're one too! Isn't that awesome?"_

No, it wasn't awesome.

Marinette glanced to the coffee cup by her computer, her mom had brought it up an hour or two ago, when the sun had first started to rise.

What a wonderful way to spend her Sunday morning, waiting for the boy she likes to wake up and — upon realizing she's a ghoul — call the CCG and report them so that they would all either be taken into captivity or die.

He shifted, a pained groan escaping from his throat.

Marinette squeaked at the sudden noise, falling out of her chair in her panicked state before rushing to his side.

"Adrien? Are you okay?" she asked, almost regretting the action when he groggily sat up, a head on his head as he took in his surroundings.

"Marinette?" he asked, obviously confused. It didn't last long, realization dawned on his face as he remembered the events of the night before.

They sat in an awkward silence, and Marinette began messing with her hair — which was let down in a tangled mess from jumping across roofs the night before.

She hesitated, before finally speaking up, "I should probably tell Tikki that you're awake, she's the best at explaining things."

As Marinette turned to go downstairs, Adrien followed, calling out to her as she entered the living room ahead of him.

"Is it true?"

The question was barely a whisper, yet the girl hears him clearly.

She sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself to be killed later by the CCG.

"Everything you remember happening last night was most likely real."

Her voice was calm and clear, and Adrien remained silent after that, and Marinette left him sitting on the couch to go get Tikki.

They returned less than a minute later, Tikki holding a small cup of coffee in her hands. She set the mug in front of Adrien, sliding into the chair next to the couch where Adrien sat.

"What happened to me?" he asked as soon as the older girl sat down.

"We have a small idea," Tikki admitted sheepishly, "the only thing we know for certain is that you're no longer human — or at least not _completely_ human."

Adrien looked down into his lap, his arms were limp, "I figured that much," he admitted, having no idea what he was going to do.

"We think it's because of Lila," Marinette piped up, still uneasy about the fact Adrien knew she was a ghoul — a monster, "she asked you on a date, didn't she? When I wasn't working?"

Adrien nodded, shocked at how normal Marinette seemed, he could almost believe last night never happened. _Almost._

"She attacked you, didn't she?"

He nodded again, biting his lip at the memory that was still fresh in his mind.

Tikki spoke next, leaning forward as she explained he situation to him, "You had an organ transplant, and received the organs from an unknown girl who was killed in the 'construction accident'. That girl is who we are assuming to be Lila."

Adrien caught on quickly, "So I now have the organs of a ghoul inside me..."

"Which makes you unable to consume normal food."

Adrien sighed, glancing at the cup of coffee, which smelt strangely normal...

Tikki saw Adrien eying the cup, and she waved at him, motioning to take the drink.

"But wouldn't it-"

"Just try it," Marinette interrupted quietly, moving to fix her own cup in the small kitchen across the room, "You might be pleasantly surprised."

Adrien nodded, shaking slightly as he brought the mug to his lips. He let the hot liquid fall into his mouth, expecting the disgusting flavor to erupt on his tongue.

It never came.

Instead of the normal bitter rotten sensation, the coffee tasted normal, the flavor in a way only the Dupain-Cheng Café could achieve.

It made him cry, it had to be made of blood or something to taste this way, right?

"Don't worry," Tikki assured him, "it's just plain coffee, the only thing we can seemingly enjoy alongside humans."

He nodded, attempting to wipe away the tears. Marinette returned with her own cup, and sat by him, wrapping her arm over his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

He now had to suffer. If only she'd been at work that day, instead of leaving in search of suicide victims, if only she'd been able to warn him about Lila, if she'd done that he would still be normal, not some monster that everyone on this cruel earth feared.

She let him cry, knowing that he'd need to let it all out at this moment.

A ghoul didn't have the luxury to cry, and he would soon have to comply to that rule.


	5. 5- Rain

This chapter is dedicated to the second season that will NOT be arriving tomorrow!

*cries*

 **[Present-day Author- Ah, yes. The horrible days without season 2]**

In all seriousness, the chapter is dedicated to danielanutella120 because their comments have honestly made my week and I probably would've only written/published the second chapter if it wasn't for them.

Also, I apologize for the cringe-worthy Adrienette scenes in this chapter, I suck at writing romance (which is kinda strange considering pretty much all of my fanfics center around different ships).

* * *

 **T** he day passed rather quickly after that, Adrien was sent home with a small packet of flesh for whenever he got hungry, and was told to return when he needed more.

However, what really worried Marinette was school. She woke up surprisingly early the next day, and when she found that she couldn't get back to sleep she got dressed and made her way downstairs. Her mother was in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand as she read a book at the small bar. The TV was on, and the news title showed that the CCG was still investigating the case with the "Binge Eater", who'd mysteriously just stopped killing.

Marinette ignored the news, she didn't want to think of Lila so early in the morning.

"Good morning, Mama." Marinette said, outing herself a cup of coffee from the machine and sliding next to her mother at the bar.

Her mom smiled at the young ghoul, "Good morning Marinette, you're certainly up early."

"I couldn't sleep," she confessed, dropping her head onto the bar, "I keep thinking about what happened to Adrien."

Mrs. Dupain-Cheng nodded, "Why don't you go help in the café for a bit, to get your mind off of it?"

Marinette stood, taking her coffee with her, "Yeah, sure."

 **• • •**

The café was busy, as it usually was in the morning, and soon Marinette forgot completely about the worries plaguing her mind.

At least, until _he_ entered the shop.

"Welcome-" Marinette momentarily froze where she stood, turning away from the coffee machine behind the counter. "A-Adrien!"

He had a smile on his face, one that seemed so pure and happy...

It was so obviously fake.

"Good morning Marinette," he called, making his way to counter, "could I have a normal coffee?"

"Y-yeah! Of course!" Marinette shuffled to quickly make the drink, setting the cup on the counter. "Oh, wait, one more thing."

Marinette reached under the counter, opening a cabinet and setting a small, dark green velvet pouch by Adrien's cup.

He eyed the pouch suspiciously, glancing back to Marinette as if to ask, _"What is this?"_

"Oh, well..." Marinette racked her mind for a way to explain it simply without drawing any suspicion, "If you get hungry, place one of those sugar cubes in a coffee, it should help for a bit."

Adrien nodded, pulling open the small pouch and taking out one of the brown cubes and dropping it into his coffee.

"If anyone asks," Marinette piped up, "just say it's brown sugar?"

"Right, thanks Marinette." Adrien flashed a small smile, and Marinette's heart felt as if it were breaking. How was he still trying to be so nice and positive?

"Marinette!"

The said girl quickly turned at the sound of her name being called, findings Tikki holding her school bag.

"You'd better get going or you'll be late!"

"R-right!"

Taking her bag from her sister, she made her way with Adrien out of the café, walking down the city sidewalks in silence.

 _There are clouds in the sky,_ Marinette noted, _it looks like it might rain soon._

Usually rain was a blessing , especially if they needed to find food or fight the CCG. The fog obstructed the Ghoul Investigators' vision, and the constant downpour washed away any blood or evidence of a ghoul attack.

Right now it just seemed fitting, this was a tragedy, wasn't it?

"So about that offer Tikki made yesterday."

"Hm?" Marinette turned her head to face Adrien. They were now stopped at the crosswalk of a street, waiting for the light to change so they could cross.

"I can really join the staff there? And in return receive protection and food?"

She nodded in response, "It's always nice being to help ghouls who'd prefer not to hurt people, but sad as well."

Adrien cocked his head to the side, "Sad? How so?"

"Well..." Marinette considered the question, replying with eyes that seemed to cloud over, "For one, it's kinda dangerous, if anyone were to ever find out, well, everyone there is pretty much as good as dead. And you also have to see families that are torn apart, ones being hunted down by the CCG and killed."

"Oh..."

The light changed, and the two of them crossed the street. They walked up the front steps of their school just as a few rain drops escaped from the sky.

"Come on, let's get inside." Adrien gripped Marinette's hand, shocking the girl by his actions.

"Wait..." she called before he could move.

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't you... ugh... how do I phrase this... disgusted by me?"

The rain had started falling, and Marinette felt the soft mist from the water springing onto her back.

"What do you mean?" was his reply.

"Well... I-I'm a monster, right? I lie to everyone on a daily basis, making simple excuses to not eat... Adrien, I've _killed_ people before, innocent people who had nothing to do with me, with _anything!_ And I eat the corpses of those who ended their life- how are you _not_ afraid of me? How can you even stand being in the same room as me?"

Adrien simply guided her under the shelter of the school's front, away from any rain that threatened to touch her.

"Marinette," he whispered, his eyes hard and serious when he spoke, "from what little I've seen of you this weekend, you're not a bad person. You didn't choose to be a ghoul, like I didn't choose to become one. So stop thinking like that, I'm not going to turn you in or tell anyone about you. You're still Marinette, the sweet girl who's in my class."

The warning bell for school rung, and one or two students ran into the building, kids who were running late or overslept.

"Just a small question, so I don't make any big mistake," Adrien continued, glancing into the school, "does Alya know?"

Marinette shook her head, guilt creeping into her heart as she replied, "No." she whispered, "She doesn't know."

"Right."

Adrien gripped Marinette's hand the slightest bit tighter as they turned to the building, entering through the double doors.

All Marinette could think of in that moment was how warm his hand was — and how much more in love with him she was falling.


	6. 6- Morning Class

**_BAM_**

ANOTHER UPDATE

TAKE THAT PROCRASTINATION

*flips a table*

Anyway, I realized halfway through the day that I hadn't even started this chapter, and went into full-blown panic mode because my phone was almost dead and I needed to start writing so I could publish it with a minimum of 1,000 words.

Daily updates are actually quite fun, and I'm pretty sure I'd hate myself if I stopped now.

Well, I'm going to watch more Death Note and play Mystic Messenger now, enjoy the hastily-written chapter that — _hopefully_ — gives you more info on the ghouls in this AU!

(This was actually originally going to be part of the last chapter, but I wanted to update yesterday so I just found a stopping point and published it)

* * *

"Are you going to explain yourself?"

"It was nothing, I swear!"

Alya was latched on to Marinette's shoulders before class began, refusing to stop pestering her until Marinette explained what she was doing with Adrien.

" _Marinette_ , do _not_ tell me it's nothing! You just walked into class with your crush _holding your hand,_ do you realize how important this event is?"

Marinette let out a strangled cry, dropping her head into her hands as red spread across her cheeks, "I know," she whined, lifting her head and looking into Alya's eyes, "I told you, I was helping in the café when he came by to get coffee, and when he saw the time he offered to walk to school together. That's it, I swear!"

Alya nodded, disbelief spreading across her features, "Yeah. Sure."

It was at this time their homeroom teacher walked in, setting her things by the front desk and opening a folder to take attendance. The only one absent was Juleka, which worried Marinette slightly.

"As most of you know, there's been a steady increase in ghoul attacks lately, and though as of now there haven't been many in the area, the CCG — Commission of Counter Ghoul — has requested for schools to begin teaching students more of ghouls so that they can have an increased chance of avoiding them."

Marinette saw Adrien tense slightly in his seat, and she understood why. They'd learned about ghouls in school before, but never had an actual unit on it.

" _Yes,_ " Alya whispered excitedly, "it's about time we learned something interesting."

The ghoul simply smiled at her friend, laughing at the excitement in the girl's tone, "You'll ace this unit, Alya."

"Quiet down, class, this is a serious matter." the Mrs. Bustier called, hushing the sudden chatter that erupted in the room. "We've been provided the information that we are required to share with you all, so please pay attention. It would be a shame for any of you to get hurt because of a ghoul."

She turned on the overhead projector, and Marinette caught a snide comment coming from Chloé's area, "This is so stupid, if you don't want to get eaten then just don't go anywhere with a ghoul, simple?"

Marinette sighed, of course Chloé would think like that.

The teacher turned off the lights at the front of the room, illuminating the projector as the slideshow was pulled up.

"It's common knowledge that ghouls reside in Paris, as well as several other major cities around the globe, with the heaviest known population of them being in Tokyo." she said, turning to the class, "Adrien, I'm sure you know of the issue with your dad being an Investgator?"

The said boy nodded, though Marinette could sense obvious hesitation in his movements, "Yeah, he's currently in Japan trying to help put the situation under control."

Nodding, Mrs. Bustier pulled up a map of Paris, several red dots littering the streets. "This is a map given to us by the CCG, the red dots you see are where ghoul attacks have happened over the past two years." Her hand traveled along the map, eventually stopping by the Eiffel Tower. "Thankfully, our *arrondissement has seen close to no attacks. They don't know if it's because we're close to the Eiffel Tower — and several more people come here daily — or if the number of ghouls is smaller than other arrondissements."

Chloé raised her hand, and Mrs. Bustier sighed, "Yes, Chloé?"

"Can I leave?"

"Why do you need to leave, Chloé?"

"Ghouls aren't real, it just has to be some group of serial killers. I'm not interested in things that don't exist."

Marinette felt bad for the teacher having to deal with the spoiled girl.

"Chloé, you can't leave this class because of something like that. It's that kind of attitude that'll get you killed."

As she spoke, Mrs. Bustier clicked to a new slide on the power point, on it was two photos and a small paragraph.

Marinette recognized the face immediately.

It was a man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, with messy black hair and a mask that resembled some hellish cross between a rat and a cat. The first photo was blurry and low-quality, and the second was a drawing done by a talented artist.

"Along with information about the ghoul species, we also received information about powerful ghouls who're being hunted down by the CCG. The one you see on the screen is known as 'The Gourmet', and is known for luring humans to infamous 'ghoul restaurants', where they're killed and served to multiple ghouls. Unfortunately they can never seem to find these hideouts that often."

Chloé sunk back into her seat, "That's just some stupid cosplayer..." she muttered.

Marinette's heart skipped a beat as the teacher went to the next slide, subconsciously beginning to mess with her hair.

Up on the screen was a photo of her, dressed in a black and red hoodie with a mask resembling a ladybug. Her kagune flared out behind her in a burst of red and black. Thankfully her dark blue hair was hidden by a scarlet wig.

Unlike the last slide, the photo was in much better quality, and there was no drawing.

"This is the S-Ranked ghoul known as 'Ladybug'. Unfortunately, like you can see from the small amount of info, there isn't much known about her. The few time she's been seen were after one or two other ghouls in the area were taken out by the CCG. She appeared afterwards and attacked recklessly, killing an investigator and fleeing just as quickly."

Chloé piped up quickly, "She just sounds like a coward to me." she said, though there was an obvious hint of fear in her eyes at the sight of the wing-like kagune.

"Even if she is a coward, she'd be able to kill you in a heartbeat."

Chloé opened her mouth to reply, but Mrs, Bustier switched the slide.

Marinette would recognize this ghoul anywhere, even if the photo was only a rough sketch. It was an SSS rank, one that — _thankfully_ — resided on the other side of the city.

His mask resembled a butterfly, it's wings stretching across his red eyes that peeked through the purple mask. A rinkaku kagune spread out from behind him in shades of a bruise-like red.

He was terrifying, and rightfully so.

"This ghoul is one of the more severe cases, most investigators who go up against him are either seriously injured or killed."

The teacher quickly exited the PowerPoint, instead opening a separate file on her laptop, a video labeled " _kagune_ ".

Chloé looked like she was about to protest, but the teacher started the video before a single word could escape her mouth.

Marinette braced herself for the things she already knew, hoping that nothing she did could reveal her secret.

It was going to be a long day.

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 **[*** ** _arrondissements_** **= neighborhoods in Paris]**


End file.
